PD file This 2003 photo shows large sewer pipes being placed in Lake Erie by the Northeast Ohio Regional Sewer District, one of dozens of projects over the last few decades to try to meet the requirements of the federal Clean Water Act.

CLEVELAND, Ohio -- Officials with the Northeast Ohio Regional Sewer District said they will release details Friday of a pending agreement with the U.S. EPA -- a deal expected to lead to about a 15 percent annual increase in sewer rates for several decades.

The rate increase will kick in to pay for what is expected to be about $3 billion in sewer improvements over the next 20 to 30 years that sewer officials say are necessary to meet requirements of the federal Clean Water Act.

Despite $2 billion in improvements over the last decade, the district remains in violation of federal law because it still dumps about 4.5 billion gallons of untreated sewage into Lake Erie each year. That's half the amount of only a decade ago, but not nearly enough to meet federal clean water standards.

The sewer district board of trustees will likely vote on the agreement Dec. 2, board President Darnell Brown said in a statement Wednesday. There are four public meetings (listed below) remaining for residents to find out more about the district's reasoning behind the rate increases.

Brown also responded to statements made this week by board member Gary Starr, the mayor of Middleburg Heights, who on Tuesday called for a one-year delay in signing the agreement to either fight it or prepare for its impact.

Brown said he was disappointed that Starr held his own news conference, without other board members' knowledge, to express personal views.

Starr was also critical that details of the proposed settlement haven't been released to the public, but both Brown and Julius Ciaccia, sewer district executive director, said giving out details of an ongoing negotiation could compromise the pending deal.

"We're trying to cut the best deal for people in this region," Ciaccia said. "But nothing about this is good or easy for people here. But it is the right thing to do, environmentally."

Delaying the deal would also add $100 million a year to the cost, Ciaccia said. He and Brown both said Starr and other board members had been aware of the pending deal since negotiations began in 2005.